cockfeather

plural cockfeathers

1. Alternative form of cock feather.
   1. Feather on an arrow.

      Put the arrow-nock on the string, at the place marked for it, with the cockfeather out to the left.

      1879, Maurice Thompson, The Witchery of Archery

      2 more examples

      Fearing the action of the wind upon such light shafts if unfledged, the archer inserts into the cloven end three or four feathers, the cockfeather being as in Europe perpendicular when the arrow is notched.

      1859, The Journal of the Royal Geographic Society of London, page 379

      When you nock the arrow in the bowstring, turn it so the cockfeather is away from the bow to prevent its being damaged when passing the bow.

      1957 March, Corky Johnson, “Hunting with Bow and Arrow”, in Boys' Life, volume 47, number 3, page 17

   2. Tailfeather of a cock.

      Zehetner carried his head higher, and on his hat he wore a cockfeather.

      1977, Jura Soyfer, Horst Jarka, The Legacy of Jura Soyfer, 1912-1939, page 103

      3 more examples

      The human hair ornament on this man's shoulders is old, but the cockfeather ornaments on his wrist and ankles appear to be a late innovation.

      1973, Terence Barrow, Art and Life in Polynesia, page 23

      His flat velvet cap, plum-coloured, is plumed with a great cockfeather, more bailiff than butcher.

      1999, Robert Nye, The Late Mr. Shakespeare

      The Hungarian shaman pins a cockfeather in his hair to facilitate his journey to the “other world.”

      2001 ·, Marcell Jankovics, Book of the Sun, page 122